


I Know Him

by WeUsedToKnock



Category: The Musketeers (2014)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-01
Updated: 2020-02-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:34:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22469479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WeUsedToKnock/pseuds/WeUsedToKnock
Summary: All the things that Constance knows, in Series 1, Episode 1.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 17





	I Know Him

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SoupNotGod](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SoupNotGod/gifts).



> It was a sort-of ear worm - Constance telling d'Artagnan that she knew Athos. Which begged the questions of how she knew him, and what she knew. So I wrote it down to get it out of my head. I'm not sure it's worth sending out into the world, but _someone_ said I had to post it here. So it's her fault.

Constance is the model of a dutiful wife – or she tries to be. She manages the household, she helps with the business and she takes in clothes for mending to supplement their income. Constance knows that her husband is not a bad man. Self-important and oblivious to her feelings - yes, but he is thoughtless rather than malicious; he has never hit her, or forced his attentions on her. Constance knows that, on balance, she has plenty to be grateful for, but she cannot shake the feeling that something is missing – that she is simply existing rather than living. If honesty was demanded then she would have to admit to being bored and somewhat lonely and to wanting more than this life of domesticity and obedience where she wields a needle, not a sword. Men, she thinks, have all the fun.

Constance stands in her kitchen, reflecting on the morning’s events.

 _“I'm not always so ill-mannered...”  
_She had been shocked in the market, by the young man and his completely inappropriate behaviour. But even as she had voiced her outrage, a thrill of excitement had run through her. Spontaneity and passion do not feature in her life. But this young man – d’Artagnan, had crashed into her daily routine like a whirlwind and left her marvelling at the feel of lips that were not her husband’s. She could hardly leave him lying in the street after he fell at her feet.

 _“I know him...”_  
She knows Athos. Not just his reputation: Athos of the King’s Musketeers, the Finest Swordsman in France, de facto leader of the Inseparables, the Drunkard. She knows the _man_ – she knows his quiet formality, the way he is never anything but polite and respectful towards her (even when hung-over). She knows the colour of his blood (and wine) where it stains his clothes, and the smells that cling to them - leather and sweat and horses and taverns (she has them cleaned before she mends them). She knows his measurements - she replaces his clothes when they are torn or stained beyond repair - cutting to size and sewing the seams. She knows Athos to be kind (though he might deny it himself) and honourable. She knows that he has a sense of humour – dry as the desert and rarely in evidence, but she has seen it - along with the smile that ghosts across his face from time to time. She knows the melancholy and despair that lurk in the back of his eyes (and wonders at their cause). She knows he has an edge of arrogance - fully justified if his reputation with a sword is to be believed; she has seen him stride through the streets as if he owns the city, and then blend into the background when he does not wish to be seen. She knows him.

 _“Think kindly of my name.”  
_She thinks of d’Artagnan, of his ‘appointment’ with Athos, and she thinks about the look in his eyes. She knows Athos (the blood on his clothes is rarely just his). D’Artagnan, with his fervour and impetuosity, is the most exciting thing to have happened in her life in a long time, and if she is not mistaken, he is likely to find himself impaled on Athos’ sword. So, she makes a decision and leaves for the garrison.

****

 _“I’m doing this for Athos!”_  
But Constance is lying, or at least, not telling the entire truth. She _is_ doing this for Athos (she will not stand by and see him condemned for crimes he did not commit; when his friends came to her door, she volunteered her help without any need of persuasion). But she is also doing this for herself - for the thrill of the forbidden. She was offered the chance to escape, just for a few hours, from her mundane existence – to step off the side-lines and into the midst of the action. And she grabbed that chance with both hands. She has never felt so alive.

 _“I killed him…”_  
A short while later, Constance shivers in the cold: shocked and slightly frightened. She is out at night wearing an indecent dress in the company of men she barely knows; she has propositioned a complete stranger and she has shot another. Dead and injured bodies are scattered on the ground nearby, and while their blood soaks into the earth, hers is racing through her veins. She is not sure now that she envies men their ‘fun’ – it comes at a price and her emotions are an uncomfortable mixture of pride (she saved his life) and guilt (she has killed a man). The adrenaline is fading and, despite the feeling of power and security that comes from the gun in her hand, she is cold and tired and scared. She wants to go home. When her husband returns, he may ask about her day (although he will barely listen to her reply) but she knows that she will tell him none of this. She will wrap this secret around herself and her dreams will be full of excitement and adventure, of saving her friends, of dispensing justice, and of a handsome young man who gazes at her as if she is a Goddess. She may not be ready to admit it to herself, but Constance wants more, and deep down, she knows this.

**Author's Note:**

> Somewhere in my head there is also the moment when Athos finds out what Constance did, and is horrified/furious that she was put in that position. Then he has to thank Constance for her help, and apologise for getting her dragged into the action. Constance is, of course, outraged and insulted that he could think that she wouldn't want to help in any way possible, and he has to apologise all over again for insulting her. Constance does not take any nonsense off her friends. :)


End file.
